A Love Lost
by ArcaneWeapon
Summary: After her death something amazing happens to Aeris and she sets out to find the man she loves. Aimed at mature audiences as one of the chapters is very intense.
1. Love Lost

**A Love Lost**

**A FFVII Fan Fiction by ArcaneWeapon**

**Author's Note: Well it's been over a year now since I started Lost Love, my first fan fiction story ever. I love the Cloud/Aeris pairing and I feel LL was too rushed; I didn't spend enough time exploring their characters. So now I'm returning to the pairing for what I hope will become my favorite thing I've written. Just a few notes: This is in no way related to LL, it is not a sequel. The majority of this story takes place after the game, but once again this has no relation to Advent Children in any way.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cloud, Aeris, or any of the other FFVII characters in this story, obviously Square Enix does. It should also be noted that most of the spoken dialogue in this chapter is taken directly from the game.**

* * *

**Introduction: Love Lost**

The past few days had been very tiring for Aeris. Since leaving the rest of her friends in the inn at Gongaga village she had traveled nonstop until she finally reached her destination, the City of the Ancients. Specks of mud spattered the hem of her pink dress, the right sleeve of her small red shirt had a tear in it, and her long brown hair, bound with a small pink ribbon, had a few small sticks and leaves tangled in it. She had only caught a brief glimpse of herself in the reflection of the pool outside the small temple before she had rushed down the steps to her final destination.

Now she stood on a small platform, the top of a pillar similar to the ones she had jumped across to reach it, surrounded by water. Slightly out of breath she grabbed onto one of the railings and let her racing heart return to normal.

_Today I will stop Sephiroth and save both the Promised Land as well as the Planet itself. This is my duty as the last living Cetra and I will not fail!_ Aeris happily thought.

Deciding that she was finally ready, she slowly walked to the center of the small shine and gently got down on her knees. She clasped her tiny hands together causing her bracelets to clink together quietly, brought them up to just under her chin, and began to pray with her emerald green eyes closed. She lost track of time as she prayed, completely absorbed in unlocking and using the power of the materia bound in the ribbon holding her hair up in it's braid. Suddenly, a distant and recognizable voice caught her attention.

"Cloud!"

_Cid? _ She thought in confusion._ What are you doing here?_

"Stop!"

_And Tifa as well?_

"Ugh... what are you making me do?"

Upon hearing Cloud's voice she raised her head and opened her eyes, blinking them once to clear the haze that was the result of keeping them closed for so long. She saw him standing directly in front of her, dressed in his same black armor with his spiky blond hair and crystal blue eyes she had come to know so well since she had first met him. To her surprise, however, he was trembling violently and his sword was raised as if he had been about to… attack her.

Ignoring the raised sword and the burning rage fading from his eyes she smiled up at him, glad to see him again. A strange whitish blue light started to shine down and she heard the faint rustling of a cloak from above before there was a searing pain in her back.

Something sharp blazed a trail through her insides before entering her sight as it pierced through her stomach. Her muscles tensed, spasmed, and then relaxed as she slumped forward over the blade. Her eyes opened wide in shock as her brain sluggishly attempted to figure out what had just happened, but she kept her smile. She heard a man behind her laugh softly and then just as suddenly as it entered her body, the blade was removed.

_Sephiroth…._

As hard as she tried to stay kneeling it was impossible. She started to fall forwards and saw the ground rushing up to meet her. Her eyes started to close on their own and the white and black marble squares below her began to fade out of focus. The last thing she was aware of before darkness engulfed her was her ribbon coming undone and the materia hidden there falling away.

_Have I failed when I was so close to my goal?_

* * *

She was back. For a moment Aeris was filled with confusion as to what was going on. Then she saw Cloud catching her lifeless body before it could hit the ground and realized she was still dead.

_I'm part of the Lifeforce now…_

"...Aeris," he whispered in shock as he gently shook her body, desperate for some sign that she wasn't really gone.

"This can't be real!"

"Don't worry," Sephiroth replied emotionlessly, "Soon the girl will become part of the Planet's energy. All that is left is to go North. The Promised Land waits for me over the snowy fields. There I will become a new being by uniting with the planet. As will this girl..."

"Shut up!" Cloud snarled as he bowed his head over her lifeless body. He snapped his head back up to stare hatefully into Sephiroth's cold eyes. "The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing."

Aeris watched as he slowly gazed back down upon her body.

"Aeris is gone. Aeris will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry... or get angry..." he sobbed, hugging her body tightly.

_Cloud… You really did care for me deeply. I'm so sorry this had to happen._ Aeris tried to wipe the tears off of his cheeks but her hand just passed through his head.

"What about us… what are WE supposed to do?" he muttered as he gently set her body on the ground. "What about my pain?" he asked trembling.

"My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!"

"What are you saying? Are you trying to tell me you have feelings too?" Sephiroth asked, looking at Cloud, a hint of confusion touching his voice.

"Of course! Who do you think I am?" Cloud demanded, standing up to glare at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth let out a short laugh before responding, "Stop acting as if you were sad. There's no need to act as though you're angry either."

_What is he trying to say about Cloud? I'm so confused…_

"Because, Cloud. You are..." Sephiroth began as he started rising back into the air.

"… a puppet."

"I'm… a puppet?" Cloud whispered in confusion as Aeris thought the same thing.

Aeris noticed the rest of her friends rushing over, jumping from pillar to pillar as fast as they could to reach Cloud and her body. Everyone gathered around Cloud except Cid who walked over and stood in front of her body. He gazed down on her in sadness then raised his head skyward to mutter a prayer for her before walking over to join the rest of the group.

Next Tifa walked over and knelt down by Aeris' body. She reached out and touched her face and hair and then covered her own mouth to choke back a sob before rushing off while closing her eyes so the others couldn't see her tears.

Finally Cloud walked over and gently picked her up, cradling her in both arms. Aeris followed him as he slowly carried her outside and waded into the pool. Cloud just stood holding her in the middle for a while, gazing down into her eyes. He wasn't crying, but she could feel the hate, anger, and mainly sorrow inside him.

"Farewell… Aeris," he quietly whispered before releasing her body.

It floated for a little bit before sinking down out of sight. Cloud turned away and walked back to the rest of the group. Aeris started to follow him when she felt a hand on her shoulder holding her back followed by a strangely familiar voice.


	2. In the Lifestream

**Wow. This chapter worked out a lot different then I was expecting, but I think I like it more then what I had planned at first. Overall things are still pretty angsty, okay –very- angsty, and I almost went and changed the fic to Angst/Romance, but I ended up keeping General just because while there's a lot of angst, there's going to be a lot of tragedy in later chapters as well as other genre's so I think General just fits a little better. Anyways, I hope you like it. **

* * *

**Chapter 1: In the Lifestream**

"Aeris, wait a moment."

"M… m… mother? Is that really you?" Aeris asked in astonishment. It was a voice she hadn't heard in fifteen years since she and her mother had finally managed to escape from the mad scientist Hojo and flee out into Midgar.

"Yes, it's me my dear child," Ifalna said lightly as she gently turned Aeris around to face her. "My you've grown into quite the beautiful young woman," she said with a smile. "I've been able to watch you from the Lifestream, but I've found that as time passes it gets harder and harder."

"Mother, it's been so many years! I hate to rush after we've only just met but I have to know, is there a way to leave the Lifestream and be alive again? You were never able to teach me anything of the ways of the Cetra since Hojo always had us separated. Please, I need to go back and help my friends defeat Sephiroth!" Aeris begged, desperation tingeing her voice.

"Just recently dead and already desiring to be back alive," her mother chuckled softly. "I will tell you that as a Cetra it is possible. It is far from easy and requires several things to take place first, but it is possible for you to leave the Lifestream if that is what you truly desire. For now please just spend some time with me and put this to the back of your mind, I have missed you so much and want to hear about everything that's happened since I entrusted you to that woman outside the train in Sector 7."

As eager as she was to get back to help Cloud and her other friends, Aeris understood what her mother was asking of her and felt slightly guilty that she had been so eager to leave after they had just met again having been separated for so long.

"Yes mother, I'm sorry for having rushed you so much! It's just that…"

"Hush dear," Ifalna interrupted her daughter with a smile. "I understand and you don't need to apologize. For now, let's take this moment and use it to be together since that monster Hojo took the chance away from us.

Aeris smiled happily back at her mother and prepared to explain what had happened over the past fifteen years, when a question suddenly popped into her head.

"Mother…. is… is father here as well? I never really got to know him, and I'd love to meet him…." she asked hesitantly. She was afraid that she already knew the answer. It was only her mother who had met her, and not both of her parents.

"Your father is here, but he is merged with a part of the Lifestream. Only the Cetra and a few special others are capable of having a form while here. However, as a Cetra, you have the ability to commune with those who have completely merged. It's a relatively simple process so I can teach it to you now."

* * *

As she finished telling her parents what had happened to her over the past years and as the presence of her father faded back into the Lifestream, Aeris was filled with a strong feeling of happiness at having finally had the chance to spend some time with her parents.

"That is quite the story," her mother said softly. "I'm so glad you've had a chance at a wonderful life and made so many strong friendships. I was terrified when Hojo and his men took us away after killing your father; I thought we were doomed to spend the rest of our lives being experimented on. I'm so glad that you've had such a wonderful time; it's like a dream come true!" her mother looked so happy, tears coming to her green eyes.

"But… but I can go back, right? You said you could teach me!" Aeris worriedly exclaimed.

"Yes my little impatient one," her mother responded, laughing, "There is a way for you to go back. Before I teach you how though, there is another who would like to spend some time with you."

"Another?"

"I'll leave the two of you alone, he's been quite insistent on seeing you."

_He? Who could it possibly be? _Aeris thought in confusion.

Again the voice came from behind her, and again she recognized it instantly.

"Aeris."

"Zack?" she whirled around to face him.

"I've missed you so much," he said as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her in a strong embrace.

Aeris shifted uncomfortably but returned the hug gently. He looked exactly the same as she remembered, same spiky black hair, same black armor, and of course, the blue eyes: the mark of a former SOLDIER. It was almost unnerving to look into his eyes again because they reminded her so much of Cloud now.

"I've… I've missed you too Zack, it's been ages since we last saw each other," Aeris responded hesitantly, her brain racing to comprehend what was going on.

Zack took a step back and gently placed his hands on her shoulders as he gazed into her eyes, "Is something wrong? You sound… confused."

"It's just that it really has been a long time since we were last together; what, five years since you left with Cloud, Sephiroth, and the others to go investigate the disturbances around the Mt. Nibel mako reactor? I don't even know what happened to you after that: you just vanished," she replied, averting her eyes from his to look at the ground.

"I suppose I thought that you were bored of me and had found another girl somewhere in town," she whispered quietly. "I mean, we were never really serious about anything… right? I never guessed you were dead…"

"Another girl!" Zack exclaimed in shock. "Never, Aeris! I loved you, I tried to get back to you as soon as I could, except that after Sephiroth massacred the villagers of Nibelheim, Cloud and I were captured and experimented on by that bastard Hojo in the basement of the Shinra Mansion."

"It took me four years to finally escape from there, carrying Cloud unconscious on my back. We were almost back to Midgar when a large group of Shin-Ra soldiers ambushed us. They outnumbered me and Cloud was still out cold. I tried to fight them but there were too many and I was shot to death." The bitterness was evident in Zack's voice.

"I'm so sad that you died too," Zack said softly, changing the topic slightly as he removed a hand from her shoulder and used it to gently lift her chin so that he could look at her face again. "We both died long before we should have, but now we're back together again and can be happy, right?"

"Zack, I… I have to go back." She couldn't stand him touching her anymore and quickly backed away, turning her back to him once more.

"Go... back? Go back where? Aeris, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"The Planet! I have to go back to the Planet to help my friends stop Sephiroth. He's trying to use Meteor to damage the Planet enough so that he will be able to absorb the entire Lifestream into his body!" Aeris cried out, tears welling up in her eyes. "Sephiroth _must_ be stopped!"

"Aeris, you aren't thinking rationally. You're dead! You can't go back."

"No Zack, you're wrong," she replied softly, "I can go back. I'm… I'm not a human. I'm a Cetra. My mother is going to teach me how to get back to the Planet."

"A Cetra?" Zack scoffed. "Cetra are just stories told to young children to help them go sleep at night, you know that. Stop joking around, Aeris!"

"I suppose I'm just a child's bedtime story then," Aeris replied sadly as she started to walk away.

"Aeris, wait! I'm sorry, okay? It's just that… so much is going on all of a sudden and so much of it confuses me. I don't know what's going on, I've been dead for a year now and I don't have a clue what's happened since then," he took a deep breath before continuing, seeing that Aeris had stopped.

"Obviously Sephiroth has gained a lot of power if he's attempting to destroy the entire world like you say. But why do you have to go back? Why do you have to be the hero? If you were trying to stop him and you ended up here I can only guess that he was the one who killed you. What's to stop him from just doing that again when you go back? Why can't you just let the friends you mentioned take care of things and stay here… where we can be together…"

"Don't you understand?" Aeris challenged, a hint of anger entering her voice. "There won't _be_ a here if Sephiroth succeeds. By absorbing the Lifestream, he will destroy it just to increase his power!"

"Yes, Sephiroth killed me, but that doesn't matter. I still have to go back to try and stop him. Maybe my friends can do it by themselves, but I know they could use my help."

"Besides," she continued, her voice dropping down to almost a whisper once more, "Someone I've come to deeply care about needs me…"

There was a long period of silence following this statement, and after a few moments Aeris glanced over her shoulder to see if Zack was even still there.

"I… see…" he said slowly, seeing her look back at him, sadness clearly evident in his voice.

"Oh come on, Zack," Aeris snapped in exasperation, rolling her eyes. "We dated five years ago and haven't seen each other since. We we're so much younger then, we've both done a lot of growing up since those times. It was hardly the most serious relationship anyways, I mean, we hardly did anything. Hugged a bunch and kissed a few times, but other than that we were nothing more than close friends messing around." She could tell her words had hurt him, but she steeled herself and continued nevertheless.

"I didn't know you had died. I figured you had gotten bored of messing around and moved on to someone else. I met Cloud and, I'll admit, at first I was just attached to him because he reminded me so much of you. Then as we traveled and talked I came to learn more about him. I began to care for the person he really was."

"I think we both knew how we felt about each other, but we never really said it out loud. Just today… seeing Cloud's reactions after I died… It really made me realize how much we both cared for each other." Aeris fell silent as she thought back to that moment.

"Cloud… You're in love with Cloud," Zack stated emotionlessly. "I guess that means the Shinra soldiers left the lucky bastard there to die after they finished me off. Honestly I'm surprised he didn't… He was pretty messed up by that point." Zack took a deep breath and gently shook his head from side to side before going on.

"Aeris… I'm really sorry. I've been so selfish. Go do what you need to do. Good luck saving the planet and I wish you the best of luck with Cloud as well. He was a good friend back when I knew him and I know he'll treat you the way you deserve."

"Thank you so much for understanding Zack," Aeris replied, smiling. "And thanks for the well-wishings; we'll do our best to save the Planet. I'll see if there's a way for me to stay in contact with you, I'm sure my mother will figure something out," Aeris continued excitedly, a hopeful smile growing on her face.

"Well I guess this is bye for now then," Zack said, a small smile also spreading across his face. "I'm thankful we at least had this chance to meet and talk again. It would be wonderful if there was some way for us to stay in contact."

Aeris turned back around and rushed over to him, hugging him again, tighter than before. "I'm sure there's a way, I'll keep you up to date on what's happening as much as possible." She lightly kissed him on his cheek before turning away to look for her mother.

She wasn't anywhere in sight. Aeris softly called out for her. Shortly after, her mother appeared.

"Ah, the two of you are finally done talking! I assume you're eager to learn how to travel back to the Planet?" Ifalna asked in amusement.

"Yes please!" Aeris exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her excitement. "I'd also like to know if it's possible for me to stay in contact with you, dad, and Zack while back on the Planet."

"Of course, communicating with us is actually pretty easy. All you need to do is close your eyes, concentrate on one of us, and then we'll be able to talk. I'm afraid getting you back will be slightly more difficult then that though." Aeris nodded as she waited for her mother to continue.

"First of all, to get you back we need a force of great evil to enter the Lifestream. For a Cetra to leave they must be replaced, as a gap would be devastating. Since we are a force of good that must be balanced by evil. Already you can see why so few of us have been able to go back, such as myself."

"Secondly, you can't have been in the Lifestream for too long as it grows much harder to leave the longer you've been here. This isn't really an issue, since you've only just arrived."

"Finally, you need a tie back to the Planet. A friendship, a relationship, it doesn't matter. The stronger the bond, the easier it will be for you to find your way back."

"Okay… That doesn't sound too bad. But who will this evil force be that replaces me?" asked Aeris. "Surely you don't mean…"

"Yes, I'm afraid it has to be Sephiroth. The fact that he is the reason you are here will only make getting back easier. Unfortunately, this means you have to wait till he dies. I'm sorry dear, but there's just no other way."

"So I can't go back and help them do it," Aeris said sadly.

"Don't give up hope," countered her mother. "You can still help them. Go with them! You can't help them with your magic and presence, but you can give them your hope. Together I'm sure you can defeat Sephiroth. When I feel his presence entering the Lifestream I'll come to you and we can send you back," Ifalna finished, smiling.

"Thank you so much, mother!" The two embraced and Aeris set off to find Cloud and the rest.

* * *

Sephiroth rose up into the air, bloodied, with an expression of shock and horror on his face. Rays of pure white light begin to shine outwards from him before he vanished in a shower of glowing red embers. Aeris smiled at the still panting Cloud even though she knew he couldn't see her. He had done it, he had beaten Sephiroth. She turned as she felt the presence of her mother appear behind her.

"So. It is done," she said happily but with a note of sadness mixed in as well. "Together you and you friends managed to defeat Sephiroth. Even now I can feel his presence entering the Lifestream. If you wish to rejoin your friends, now is the time."

"I still do mother. I'm going to miss you! I'll be sure to stay in touch! What do I need to do?"

Ifalna waved her hands through the air and an oval of pitch black light appeared in front of them.

"Simply walk though this window. After that, I can't say for sure, as I've never done it myself. I've heard the journey back to the Planet can be quite difficult and tiresome, but you must never give up or you will be lost forever. Follow your heart and you will make it back safely."

Mother and daughter shared a deep hug before Aeris turned to face the window. Once she had built up enough courage she stepped though.


	3. Journey Home

**First off sorry this took so long, with work and my comp blowing up and needing to be repaired I haven't had a ton of time to write. Hopefully future chapters won't take this long. Anyways, hope you enjoy. Not my favorite chapter but I've never really liked transition ones.**

**Note: The song Aeris sings to herself in this fic is actually an amazing poem written by Mary Frye. I in no way claim to own it.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Journey Home**

Aeris had no idea how much time had passed since she had left her mother and stepped through the portal, but it felt like she had been floating through this darkness for hours. Just as she was starting to get worried, she realized that there was a small glowing white dot in the distance ahead of her. Smiling to herself she continued forward, eager to be out of the eternal black at last.

Soon she found herself standing in front of another oval window, however this time it was pure white. Stepping through it she found herself floating a foot off the ground in the middle of a field of wildflowers. The amount of flowers and the variation of colors took her breath away; she had never before in her life seen this many beautiful flowers in one place.

Looking down to see if she could find out why she was floating Aeris blushed lightly as she realized she was also wearing no clothes.

_I hope no one's around to see me…_

Glancing around to see where she should go, Aeris could only see flowers in all directions, she was also somewhat alarmed to find that the window she had stepped through to get here had vanished. Deciding that she had better get moving Aeris started floating in the direction she had originally been facing, as she thought she could faintly see a mountain range on the horizon.

Remembering her mother's warning not to lose track she decided to pass the time by focusing on Cloud and singing a song. Not knowing what to sing she started making something up as she floated along.

Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sun on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there; I did not die.

As she finished the first run through of her song, which she was quite proud of, Aeris realized that there was indeed a mountain range ahead of her, although it was still a ways off. She also noticed that she was now floating closer to the ground and her feet were starting to brush the tops of the flowers. Ignoring it, Aeris continued on towards the mountains, examining them as she continued to sing the song quietly to herself.

Aeris was jarred out of her peaceful state when her feet suddenly hit the ground and she barely managed to not fall over. She had stopped floating completely, and was now once again in contact with the ground. It felt odd to walk since it had been a while since she had, but she still had a small distance to the mountains left to practice in.

By the time she reached the base of the mountains where the flowers ended, Aeris was once again quite comfortable with walking. The size of the mountains was quite alarming, but Aeris refused to give up.

_I'm on my way back Cloud; I won't stop until we're together again._

Continuing on, she set off up the mountain. She couldn't see their tops since they passed through the clouds, but she hopped they weren't much higher since she still wasn't in the greatest physical state. As she was climbing up, she realized that after all this time the sun hadn't moved at all.

_So this can't be the real world…_ she thought, confirming her suspicions. _I guess that means I don't need to worry about running into anyone else. Mom did say that I could die permanently here though, so I do need to be careful._

Aeris kept moving upward and she gradually entered the shade as the clouds circling the mountains blocked out the sun. It had been quite a while since she had started climbing and she was nearing the clouds. She felt nothing at all aside from a slight wetness as she entered them and found herself in a field of beautiful pure white snow surrounded by the clouds. It turned out that the mountain had no peak and just stretched out into the distance completely flat. Glad that it meant she didn't have to climb multiple mountains Aeris ignored the oddity and continued along.

Walking through the snow was slow and required a lot of work, but Aeris was surprised to notice that she didn't feel cold at all. However after she had been walking for a while she realized she was slowly starting to feel the cold and picked up her pace, realizing that if she started feeling the full force of the cold while wearing nothing she would be in trouble.

Despite her increased speed though, she started feeling more and more cold as shivers started to rack her body. Attempting to take her mind off the cold she started to sing her song again, but she could feel parts of her body starting to shut down as the cold overwhelmed her. When she got to the end of the song she modified the words slightly and started repeating them over and over to herself in a chant.

"I will not die. I will not die. I will not die."

Just as she felt she couldn't go any farther and that it would be best to curl up and take a nap, Aeris found the edge of the plateau. Realizing that she was safe a small surge of energy filled her and she rushed down as fast as she could to get below the cloud level.

Once she emerged back out into the sun, Aeris found the nearest rock and collapsed upon it, still shivering but enjoying the feeling of the sun's heat on her skin as well as the heat being radiated outward by the rock. Once she felt warm enough, she got up and continued down the mountain. At the base she could see an enormous forest and farther in the distance past it, what seemed like an ocean.

As tired as she was from her trek across the mountains Aeris dared not stop and pressed on into the forest when she reached it. Once inside she found berry-laden bushes and trees covered in fruit, but to her surprise after everything she had been through she wasn't hungry at all. Ignoring the food she continued deeper into the forest, searching for a way to get to the ocean she had seen before.

After a while Aeris realized that the food was actually starting to look good and that she was getting somewhat hungry. A few hours later she was starving and decided to stop for a while to eat some of the fruit to replenish her energy.

_Wow, _she thought in shock, _this has to be the best fruit I've ever eaten in my life._

Once she was full, Aeris continued on and found a small beach of sand between her and the ocean she had seen while on the mountain. However, there was no boat or other means of crossing, and she knew there was no way she would be able to swim across an entire ocean. Despairing she attempted to contact her mother to find out what she should do but there was no response.

_It must be because I'm in this between world, which prevents me from contacting anyone in the Lifestream or on the Planet._

Not knowing what to do next Aeris stated to turn back to the forest when suddenly she thought she saw something in the water,

"Cloud?"

Without thinking twice Aeris dove into the crystal clear water.

* * *

The instant her entire body was underwater she felt something shift and realized something was wrong. The water was no longer as clear as it used to be, she was resting on the bottom with the surface far above her, and she could feel clothes on her body. Not understanding what had happened she started struggling to get to the surface as she felt her lungs beginning to strain. She started to see stars as she neared the surface, her clothes were drastically slowing her down and now she was afraid they might cause her to drown. Knowing she didn't have time to try and take them off she continued to fight to reach the surface.

Somehow she managed to make it right as her lungs were about to burst. She swam over to the shore and realized that this was the lake where Cloud had put her body and that she was back in her normal clothes.

"I'm… back…" she thought before falling unconscious.

* * *

Aeris woke up again sometime later with no idea how long she had been unconscious. Glancing up into the sky she concluded that it was sometime in the afternoon.

_What now? _She asked herself, _I'm still on the Northern Continent, Cloud will most likely be in Midgar so I need to find a boat to take me there. I certainly can't go around in public wearing this though, _she thought, looking down at her clothes, which had deteriorated after having sat in the lake.

Deciding to solve the clothes problem first, Aeris headed into the City of Ancients to look for some clothes in one of the abandoned houses. After searching for a while she managed to find a simple white woolen dress and changed into it. She placed her other clothes into a backpack she had found, hoping to one day be able to repair them.

Content with her new outfit Aeris headed south to where she knew the docks would be. She passed through the Sleeping Forest, picking up a branch of wood that was about the right size for her to use as a staff, and the abandoned archeology site and kept going until she could see the ocean and ships. Aeris was slightly surprised at the amount of activity, but from the construction going on it seemed like a tourist resort was being built.

Passing through the makeshift town to get to the water, Aeris saw that no one recognized her or paid her any attention besides glancing at her odd clothes. As she neared the docks, however, she heard something that caught her attention.

"That one there looks familiar, can't quite remember why though… Ah, that's it, she looks like that girl who ran through our dig site a couple of weeks ago, the one who had all the people chasing after her. That one wore a pink dress though and I heard she died, what a shame. This one is still pretty cute though, ehh?"

Not willing to risk letting anything happen Aeris tightened her grip on her makeshift staff, picked up her pace, and hurried to find a boat to get on. Luck was on her side and there was a boat leaving in a few hours taking people to Midgar. She had enough gil left in her old clothes to afford a ride as well as a bit left over for when she arrived.

_Here I come Cloud!_


	4. Reunion

**Summers been pretty hectic but here it is. As a warning this chapter has torture in it, which is why the fic is rated M and the summary says mature audience. I was originally planning a bit more detail, but in the end I couldn't do it, it was already hard to write what I did. Basically I don't want reviews complaining about what's there. It really hurt to write all this happening to my favorite character. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, it's the main one of the story and things will be wrapping up in the next.**

**Chapter 3: Reunion**

Aeris glanced down the street lit by the mid-day sun, wondering which of the apartments she was looking for. It had been a week since she had gotten on the boat back on the Northern Continent. The voyage hadn't been bad, but Aeris was nevertheless glad to have her feet back on solid ground. Since then she had made her way to Midgar where she had quickly learned Cloud lived.

It seemed like everyone knew where he lived and people gave her odd glances when she had to ask. After everything that happened and how Cloud had saved the world she supposed he was now being hailed as a hero for what he'd done. She wondered if anyone knew her name. Unsure if she wanted to be recognized Aeris instead used the name Maria and kept her white dress on instead of trying to have her normal clothes repaired. She supposed she looked a little odd in a white wool dress with a small backpack stuffed with her few possessions and a makeshift wooden staff resting casually on her shoulder, but all that mattered to her was finding Cloud.

She knew she was close to finding him now. The woman had told her that she was looking for an apartment with a blue door, next to a shed with a moldy yellow door. Ahead along the empty street Aeris thought she could see the yellow door and a smile spread across her face as she thought about how shocked Cloud would be to see her. The woman had also said that Aeris might be able to find him at Seventh Heaven, but Aeris didn't want to run into Tifa before she'd had a chance to talk with Cloud.

Just as she was about to break out into a run since the blue door was only a few feet away, a rough hand grabbed her arm. She turned to see who it was and was startled to see a scarred unshaven face she didn't recognize.

"Who are," was all she was able to get out before the man's other hand clapped around her mouth.

Realizing that things were heading in a direction she didn't like Aeris griped her staff and swung it as best as she could in this position at the man's head. A searing pain in the arm he had grabbed caused her to scream into his hand and drop her staff before she was able to hit him. The man had bent her left arm behind her back and with the pressure he was now applying she was afraid that her shoulder was about to pop out of its socket.

Tears welled up in her eyes at the pain; knowing that any further struggling would only hurt her even more, Aeris pretended to faint hoping the man would loosen his hold. Instead she heard him chuckle as he started dragging her towards the yellow door. Realizing that things were only getting worse Aeris made one final attempt to ram her foot upward into his crotch. The man was caught off guard and she felt her foot connect followed by a low moan of agony.

"You bitch," the man growled as he swung her around to face him, still holding her arm but releasing her mouth.

As soon as his hand left her mouth she drew in a deep breath to scream at the top of her lungs, but before she was able to his fist connected with her stomach. Hard. All the air rushed out her in shock and she couldn't get another breath. She felt her back hit the ground and realized he had hit her so hard he hadn't been able to keep his hold on her.

Aeris struggled to get to her feet to run away but she couldn't get her body to respond, desperately she struggled to catch her breath. She looked up to see the man grinning down at her before he grabbed her leg and started dragging her across the ground towards the shed with the yellow door. Just as she started seeing spots she finally managed to pull air into her lungs.

They had reached the door and he already had it open, inside she could only see blackness but it looked like a flight of stairs leading down. He released her leg and grabbed her arm again. Before she could do anything else he had lifted her up and hurled her though the door. There was indeed a flight of stairs there and she was unable to do anything to slow herself as she brutally tumbled down them at full force. She finally hit the bottom with a sickening noise and felt a sudden searing pain in her right leg.

The only light suddenly vanished as the man closed the door and started walking down the stairs towards her. Aeris started screaming in panic, sobbing between screams. She started to desperately crawl away into the small room she had seen when there was still light. Each time she clawed her way forward jarred her leg and only made it hurt more but she continued on trying to get away. Behind her she heard the man reach the bottom of the stairs and chuckle again.

"I think you're my best catch so far darling," the man snarled.

Whimpering in fear Aeris curled up into a ball in the corner she had found. She was momentarily blinded as lights suddenly flared on. When she could see again she screamed in horror.

* * *

Cloud walked up the street, returning from a day of deliveries. The small amount of light still provided by the setting sun allowed him make out the blue door of the apartment he lived in as well as the shack next to it. As he walked past the yellow door he thought he heard a faint sound like a woman yelling, but was distracted by a black haired woman leaning out a window above and shouting down at him.

"Cloud! Get up here right now, you're late and dinner's getting cold!"

Laughing softly Cloud discounted the strange sound and hurried up to his room, not eager to incur the wrath of his best friend. He hurried up the stairs and threw open the door to his room. "Tif I'm…" was all he was able to get out before a shape in black came hurtling out of the closet to his left and tackled him. Cloud burst out into laughter as the person began to mercilessly tickle him.

"Tifa, stop, please," he managed to gasp out between laughs. Instead of listening to him the red-eyed woman only tickled him harder.

Deciding the only way to save himself from this situation was to fight back Cloud started tickling her as well. Thankfully Tifa was even more ticklish then he was and she flew off him after a few seconds.

"What are you doing here Tif," Cloud asked once they had both caught their breaths, "don't you need to be running the bar?"

"Oh I see how it is," Tifa replied, crossing her arms and turning away from him, pretending to be hurt. "When I decided to take time to spend with my best friend and even go through the agony of cooking for him all he wants is for me to be gone."

"Don't be silly," Cloud murmured as he walked up behind her and hugged her. "You know I love spending time with you, but what about Seventh Heaven?" "Wait you cooked?" he exclaimed in shock a second later when the fact sunk in.

"I closed it down for the night, business has been going really well and I figured a break was in order." His surprise over her cooking clearly pleased her and she pulled out of his arms and whirled to face him, eyes shining. "Yup, I cooked! Just some hamburgers since they're simple and easy, I mean, common, who can ruin a hamburger?"

Cloud laughed and almost replied, but realized from the look of warning in her eyes that it would be better for his physical wellbeing to remain quiet. Seeing that Cloud wasn't going to make a mocking comment about her cooking Tifa grabbed him by his arm and dragged him out to the balcony where she had set up a small table with two chairs facing each other, a single candle between them.

Tifa plopped him down in one of the chairs and vanished in the direction of the kitchen. Deciding she clearly didn't want help Cloud looked over the edge of the balcony into the street below. There was no movement, everyone was already inside eating dinner. Lately it wasn't safe to wander the streets during the night, several people, mostly young women, had been disappearing.

Cloud's eyes were drawn to the shack next doors for some reason. He thought back to the sound he had heard earlier, for some reason it was disturbing him but he couldn't quite place it. The sound of Tifa returning distracted him from his thoughts and he smiled at her as she set a plate with a hamburger along with a mug of beer in front of him.

"I hope it isn't too bad," doubt about her own cooking entering her voice.

"I'm sure it's fine," Cloud reassured her as he picked his up and took a large bite. After a few chews he nodded confirmation and Tifa let out a sigh of relief before taking a bite out of hers. It wasn't the best he'd ever eaten, but it certainly wasn't the worst either. The fact that it had been made by Tifa only made it even better.

"So, what's on your mind?" Tifa asked when both of them had finished eating.

"Actually that shack right down there," Cloud gestured with his hand. "Do you know who lives there or what it's for?"

Tifa glanced down and thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Why?"

"I just thought I heard something really strange when I walked by today, just before you called out to me."

"Something strange?"

"Yah, I think I almost recognized it, but then it vanished. All I know is that I'm pretty sure it was important and I intend to find out what it was."

"There's something else on your mind Cloud, something that's troubling you even more and has been for a few days now, I can tell. Please let me know?" The look on his face told her she was correct.

Cloud looked down at the ground, unable to meet her eyes as he answered her question. "What… what if Aeris wasn't really dead?"

"What!" Tifa exclaimed in shock. "How can you even say that! Everyone saw Sephiroth kill her, you even buried her in that lake! I know you loved her Cloud, but please, she's dead, treasure your memories of her but accept that fact." "It wasn't your fault," she finished, gently touching his arm in comfort.

"I know she died Tifa," Cloud responded, anger entering his voice. "But what if she could find a way to come back? I want to be forgiven."

"I'm sure wherever she is Aeris knows there was nothing you could have done, as I already said it wasn't your fault. I'd love for her to be able to come back as well, she was like a sister I never had. She's gone though, I know it's hard for you but you have to accept that."

"I know Tifa," Cloud replied, a single tear running down his cheek. "I think I'm going to go check out that shed now, maybe it will help take her off my mind." "I could have sworn I heard her voice singing a few days ago," he muttered, just loud enough that Tifa barely heard.

"No Cloud, not now," Tifa firmly replied. "You need to get some rest, I'm really worried about you. Check the shed in the morning okay?"

Not wanting to argue with her Cloud reluctantly agreed. After they had cleaned up dinner Tifa decided that she wanted to watch a movie. Halfway through, however, she fell asleep on his shoulder. He turned the movie off and realized that he was pretty tired as well, his last thought before he too fell asleep was of Aeris.

* * *

Cloud woke up before Tifa and carefully got up, trying not to wake her. Once he was up and was sure Tifa was still sleeping Cloud ate a small breakfast and then headed out, determined to investigate the strange shed and find the source of the strange noise.

He quickly left the building and walked up to the yellow door. Placing his ear to the door he was unable to hear anything from the other side, when he tried the handle he found it locked.

Not willing to let that stop him Cloud took a step back and then rushed the door with his shoulder. The door shuddered and crashed inward under his weight, he was almost unable to prevent himself from following it down the flight of stairs that was on the other side.

_What kind of shed has stairs leading down right inside the door?_

Slightly confused Cloud began to walk down the stairs, when he reached what he guessed was about halfway the faint smell of blood reached his nose. Alarmed Cloud picked up his pace and rushed to the bottom where he quickly found a light switch. He stared out at the small room in shock when the lights flickered on.

The walls, floor and even ceiling were covered in dried blood; a lot of it didn't seem to be too old. A variety of knives hung from the walls. All of them were very sharp and were clearly used often. The most alarming sight however filled the middle of the room. There a small table sat with straps to hold both arms, and legs. There was someone on it.

Sickened and feeling as if he was about to throw up Cloud approached the table. He could already tell, however, that by the complete lack of movement the victim of this brutal torture was already dead. He wondered who it could have been and if he had investigated when he heard the strange sound if he would have been able to save their life. A noise behind him caused him to whirl around, a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Well, well, well, looks like you've found my private sanctuary. I hope you've enjoyed your stay, I'm afraid I won't be able to let you leave though," growled a medium sized unshaven man.

The unbridled wrath glowing in Cloud's blue eyes unwillingly drove the man back a step. Realizing that this intruder was not going to just let himself be captured the man snatched one of the knives off the wall next to him and charged. Cloud gracefully sidestepped and drew his sword in the same motion. As the man went past him Cloud tripped him with the blade causing him to fall to the ground and crash into the far wall, the knife falling out of his hand.

Realizing that he was in serious trouble the man backed into the corner and began begging for his life. "Please don't hurt me, I didn't do anything to you. Take me to the police; let me have a trial, throw me in jail! I swear I wasn't going to harm you!"

Cloud stood over the man looking down in disgust. "You are trash. You live your sorry excuse for a life and then torture innocent people for fun when the urge strikes you. You sicken me."

"I demand a fair trial!"

"Then I pronounce myself judge, jury, and executioner and I herby find you guilty," Cloud growled as he drove his sword through the man's heart.

Turning away Cloud approached the table again to see if he could tell who it was, it scared him to think that this could have happened to Tifa or someone else he knew. Looking at the body, however, he was unable to discern anything, even if it was a man or a woman although he thought it was the later. The body was so mutilated that he couldn't make out who it could have been.

In disgust Cloud turned away and started to leave to let the authorities know of what had happened and to get someone to bury the body. However when he reached the stairs a faint sound, barely distinguishable over the sound of his footsteps, from behind him brought him to an abrupt stop.

"I am the soft stars that shine at night."

Cloud instantly recognized it as part of the song he had heard about a week ago and rushed back to the table. Looking closer he thought he saw the person's chest slightly moving. Gently reaching down he placed two fingers on their neck and was surprised to find a very faint pulse. They were still alive.

Trying to find some identification as to who the person was Cloud's eyes were drawn to a small backpack lying in a corner next to a wooden staff that he had overlooked before. He went over, opened it, and examined what was inside. He dropped the damaged but recognizable clothes on the floor in shock and then sprinted up the stairs.

* * *

Tifa was woken up when Cloud came bursting through the door, almost knocking it off its hinges as he barreled through.

"Tif, do you have any Cure materia on you?" he blurted.

Still half asleep Tifa blinked a few times before shaking her head. Hardly stopping Cloud ran to his bedroom and started sifting through a small case under his bed containing several valuable high-level materia. Finding what he was looking for Cloud ran back through the main room.

"Cloud… what's going on?" Tifa asked in confusion.

"It's Aeris, she's hurt," was all Cloud said as he raced back out of the apartment. If Tifa wasn't awake before she was now as she jumped to her feet and charged after Cloud. She followed him into the shed and down the stairs to a blood covered room that made her recoil in horror. Cloud ignored it all and hurried over to the table in the middle of the room.

Tifa reluctantly approached the table to stand next to Cloud as he activated the materia and used it on the body lying there.

"That's… Aeris?" Tifa asked in shock, staring at the body she didn't recognize at all after what had been done to it.

Ignoring Tifa, Cloud continued to heal Aeris with the materia, hoping desperately that it would be enough. After a few minutes he turned to Tifa, "I've done as much as I can with this, I need you to go and get an ambulance. She's not in huge danger of dying anymore but her body is going to need time to recover."

Tifa nodded and hurried out to get help. Cloud leaned against the table next to Aeris' head and gently stroked her hair with his hand as a single tear traced a path down his cheek.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm so sorry Aeris. The noise I heard last night was you screaming, if I had just been paying more attention I would have realized and then I could have prevented this. It's all my fault. I've failed you again. Will you ever be able to forgive me twice?"

"Please don't die and leave me alone again, I don't think I could survive a second time. I love you so much," Cloud sobbed, tears now flowing freely down his face.

"Hold on love, the ambulance will be here soon and then we'll get you to the hospital so you can get better again, just hold on a bit longer."

When he heard Tifa call down that the ambulance had arrived Cloud carefully picked Aeris up, grabbed her bag, and carried her up the stairs to the waiting paramedics.


	5. Awakening

**I'd like to start this chapter off with an apology. I know it's been four months since I last posted on this story and I feel really bad about it. The only excuse I can give is that I've just been through quite a depressing period and now I'm finally back to a place where I can and want to keep writing. So without further adieu, here it is, the next and second to last chapter of A Love Lost.**

**Chapter 4: Awakening**

Cloud lifted his head off the cold, hard floor and half sat up, blinking sleepily as he looked around the room. There was something about the room that deep down stirred some unrecognizable emotion, something familiar but in a bad way.

_That was a wonderful dream, _he thought, remembering the smile on her lips and the look in her emerald green eyes. W_here am I though?_

It came to him in a flash, the shed, the room covered in blood he found at the bottom of the stairs, the body…

"Aerith!" Cloud screamed as he sat bolt upright.

He remembered where he was now. The stark white room, completely devoid of any color other then a vase of roses was in the hospital they had taken her to. He knew if he glanced to his right he would see the painful sight of her frail body lying almost completely motionless. The only sign indicating that she was still alive was the faint rise and fall of her chest, barely noticeable under the sheets.

Cloud continued to clear his head as he thought back to why he had been asleep, no, passed out, on the floor.

* * *

He heard a knock on the door but completely ignored it, his focus entirely upon the woman he loved, the woman barely holding onto the breath of life lying on the bed in front of him.

"Cloud…?" a voice called hesitantly through the door. He recognized it as Tifa but continued to ignore her. The door quietly opened and closed and he heard Tifa slowly walk up behind him.

"How's she doing?" the brunette whispered.

Cloud's only response was a grunt and a slight shake of his head as he continued to stare at Aerith.

"Cloud I understand your really worried about Aerith, I am too, but I'm also really scared for you!" Tifa exclaimed, a slight note of panic entering her voice. "You've been in this same position for five days now, you hardly eat any of the food I bring you, and I know you haven't slept more then ten hours total. You're killing yourself!" she sobbed as she broke down and collapsed to her knees behind him.

_Killing myself? Nonsense, I'm simply making sure that when she finally wakes up I'll be right by her side to comfort her. I'm not…. Killing myself…_

…_Am I?_

He knew that there was no way he could continue to live on in a world without Aerith. Not after having failed her yet again and having watched her die as he stood there helplessly for a second time. Perhaps Tifa was right, perhaps he was intentionally weakening himself so that if that slow, rhythmic, life-indicating, movement of her chest rising and falling stopped, he wouldn't be long in following her to the Lifestream.

He tried to respond to Tifa, but instead found himself coughing as he realized it had been days since he last spoke and his throat was dry. "Wa.. water…" he managed to whisper.

Tifa nodded and jumped to her feet as she rushed out of the room to get him a glass, glad to finally at least get some kind of reaction out of him.

This time as he heard her returning Cloud tore his eyes away from the bed and slowly staggered to his feet out of the chair, surprised at how weak he actually felt.

He saw Tifa's eyes widen in surprise as she stood in the doorway, looking at him move slowly towards her. As he stumbled halfway to her she jumped forward and caught his arm, preventing him from falling flat on his face.

"Here, drink this," she said, holding a glass up to his lips while turning her head away from his so she didn't have to look at him for some reason.

Cloud nodded and slowly drank down all the water, not caring how weak his body had become or the pained look in Tifa's eyes.

"I'm sorry Cloud," he barely heard her whisper under her breath.

Realizing that something was wrong, that something in the water tasted funny, Cloud looked up at her in shock.

_Up? Why am I looking up at her, I've always been taller then Tifa… Wait... Why am I on my knees?_

"What… what did you…"

"I'm so sorry," she mumbled, tears filling her eyes. "I put a sleeping powder in the water, you need to sleep Cloud. Please, sleep," she sobbed as she fled from the room and what she had just done.

Unable to fight the drug, Cloud collapsed to the ground as the world slowly turned black.

* * *

_Almost a week. Has it really already almost been a full week since I found her? And… did Tifa really just drug me to get me to sleep?!_

He had to admit he felt slightly refreshed after his unintentional nap, before then the only times he had allowed himself to doze off were for short thirty minute periods, terrified that if he slept any longer he might miss her waking up.

_At least they left me here…_ Cloud didn't know what he would have done if he had woken up in a room without Aerith.

Glancing over he saw that she was in the same position, causing him to let out a sigh of both relief and despair.

"Aerith… will you _ever_ wake up?" Cloud asked the prone body dejectedly as he stumbled over to the chair next to her bed and sat down.

The seat was hard and uncomfortable; it was a simple wooden stool essentially, not meant for long term usage, especially not for five days straight. Cloud completely ignored this, the fact he was in the same room as Aerith, right next to her, was all he needed to make himself comfortable. He knew that no matter where he was, or what was happening, as long as she was there with him he would be content.

He slowly and gently reached out; afraid he might hurt her, and pulled her hair away from her face so that he could lay his hand against her cheek.

The doctors hadn't been able to do much, and for that he had cursed them till they were terrified to enter the room. He was thankful, however for the little they had managed to do, straightening her bones so they would heal properly, and mainly the facial reconstruction. That was what had scared Cloud the most, the fact that he couldn't even recognize who she was.

Something that evil bastard who had done this to her prevented any of his Materia from being able to fully heal her. Deep down he knew that if she should die, once again even a Revive materia wouldn't bring her back.

Gazing down into her once again beautiful face he almost thought he saw the faintest upward twitch of her lips, but he ignored it, knowing better then to let his imagination get the better of him.

Staring down at her like this he was unable to keep the emotions he had mostly kept in check for five days back any longer. Sobs racked his body as tears poured down his cheeks.

"Why, why did this have to happen? What have I done to deserve watching the woman I love with all my heart die twice?"

"I love you Aerith, I never got the chance to tell you but I love you with all my heart and soul. You mean everything to mean and I just can't keep going without you in my life."

"C..cloud?"

Cloud froze. Hearing _that_ voice speak his name… "Now I'm hallucinating," he muttered.

"Why… why are you crying?" the same voice asked. "I don't like seeing you cry."

Positive he was going insane Cloud wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at the bed. The shock of seeing her with her eyes open, looking at him, was almost enough to send him tumbling backwards out of the chair.

"A..aerith?!" Cloud exclaimed in shock, tears still leaking from his eyes.

"Please stop crying," Aerith begged, "I'm fine now Cloud, I'm all better, I promise." "Now that your with me," she added, much lower.

This was crazy, here he was, crying his eyes out over her after having waited for five days for her to wake up so that he could comfort her… and now that she was finally awake _she_ was the one comforting him! Cloud couldn't help but smile and laugh at the situation.

Not entirely sure why his emotions had changed so quickly, Aerith simply smiled and raised her hand to hold the hand he had placed on her cheek.

"I was in a dark place," she said slowly when Cloud had quieted down, a distant look entering her eyes. "I was floating in blackness and all around there was laughter, laughter and so much pain."

"Aerith, please," Cloud interrupted, "you don't need to tell me this."

"I do Cloud, I need to get this out, to help both of us move on. Please, just listen to me… okay?"

Cloud's response was to hold her hand tighter and slightly nod his head, unable to speak.

"It hurt so much," she continued, "more then anything, even dying, had hurt before. The laughter was almost worse then the pain, the fact that someone could enjoy doing something like that so much. I was terrified." A single tear leaked from her eye and tracked its path down her cheek to rest against Cloud's hand.

"But then you came. I couldn't see you but I could still hear, you killed that beast that did this to me, you saved me." She smiled up at him and the sight of it took his breath away.

"After that I passed out from the pain and returned to the darkness, but this time there was a light next to me and I wasn't scared anymore. I knew you were the light and you would stay with me and protect me. I… I love you Cloud," she finished.

"I…I don't deserve you Aerith," Cloud mumbled.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"I failed you, I failed you for a second time! How could I ever ask your forgiveness twice?" Cloud muttered miserably.

He was shocked to hear her… _giggle?!_

"Your so silly, what do I need to forgive you for, you've done nothing wrong and everything right."

"But… but I let you die once and almost again a week ago!" he stammered, trying to explain why he needed her to forgive him.

"Let me die? Cloud there was nothing you could do to stop Sephiroth, I knew that then just as I know there was nothing you could have done to stop that beast from doing what he did."

"But.."

"Enough Cloud," she replied firmly, "No more 'buts,' I refuse to forgive you okay? You've done nothing wrong, leave it at that."

Chuckling to himself Cloud smiled at her and nodded, glad to have that out of the way at last. "Now what?" he asked her.

"Well… I'd love to get out of this hospital," she replied, "After that I don't really care as long as we're always together" she finished, a slight blush spreading across her cheeks.

"I fully agree," Cloud said happily, "I'll go let Tifa and the doctors know that your okay and we can see about moving you to my house to keep recovering." He lightly placed a kiss on her forehead before standing up and walking out of the room, eager to be out of this place as well.

_We're finally together at last!_

**This isn't quite over yet! There's still one happy fluff chapter left with a small surprise in it to go. Sorry if this seemed a little rushed but a new fic idea (yes, the same pairing :P) popped into my head while writing this and it was just too distracting.**


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